I have reviewed Chicago’s brutal death metal band Embryonic Autopsy’s last two albums. Here we are with album three – Rise of the Mutated. How well does this stack up against their past efforts? Well, read on for that info. Staying intact for the last several years has made the brutal quartet more cohesive; that’s […]
Colorado’s Stormkeep had a nice little glow up on their debut album, Tales of Othertime, back in 2021. The symphonic black metal band with members of Wayfarer and Blood Incantation put the genre and world on notice that the US has indeed entered the chat. But then nothing for 5 years, other than an instrumental […]
Mork has been spreading their disease since 2007. That’s a pretty long time in dog years to be sure, but those years have sharpened their sound to a razor-sharp edge, and with Monolitt, their follow-up to 2024s Syv, they are bringing more ferocity to the table and some absolutely deadly riffs to boot. For those […]
Slovakian blackened death metal act Goholor (enochian for ‘ascend’) has been around since 2016, but Locus Damnatorum is their debut album. Either way, they are new to me, but on this debut, they have dropped one of my favorite albums of the year so far. Leaning a little more into the death side of blackened […]
When I listen to music, and especially when I review it, I make sure to administer a few tests. These include the headphones/workout test, car test, background music test, and the early morning test. Most of those don’t need an explanation, but I’ll elaborate as the new Bloodhunter album, Sons of the Abandoned, recently endured […]
Desolus, outta the MD/DC area, are back with album #2, Dwellers of the Twilight Void. I reviewed their debut in 2024, System Shock, and really enjoyed their take on classic German thrash metal. Bileh Dougsiyeh is welcomed into the fold as the new drummer. Their previous drummer, Travis Stone, has moved from drums to guitars […]
After a 12-year layoff, Germany’s preeminent Swedish-style death metal veterans, Fleshcrawl (who I am now learning were called both Morgoth and Suffocation back when they started, and finally switched to Fleshcrawl for obvious reasons), reemerged into the fray with the solid Into the Catacombs of Flesh back in 2019. And now, after 7 years, some […]
Brutal slam veterans, Devourment, have been quiet, having not released new material for a number of years. I reviewed their last album, Obscene Majesty, back in 2019, and what a crushing onslaught of music that was. Then,BAM! Out of nowhere this 3-song ep, Pious Impiety, drops, and here I am reviewing it. With a very […]
I’ll give you one guess what a new super group featuring Devin Swank on vocals (Sanguisugabogg), Eric Morotti on drums (Suffocation), Derek Boyer on bass (Suffocation), and Rich Nagasawa on guitar (ex-Dehumanized) AND features guest vocal spots from Frank Mullen (ex-Suffocation) sounds like? Yeah, if this thing were any more New Yawk, it would say “I’m […]
Back on my review of Wielded Steel‘s killer Sins of Your Domain EP, I rattled off a bunch of hardcore bands I had/have been jamming, including two French bands: Glassbone whose Ruthless Savagery EP is also killer, and Beyond The Styx, who have been around for a while with 3 other albums and some EPs […]
Norway’s Trelldom is back with another mind-boggling release, filled with cosmic horrors and coiled malevolence. Gaahl (Gaahls Wyrd, ex –Gorgoroth) has this Black Metal Midas touch that ensures anything he releases is going to be at least amazing. …By the Word… is a bit of a slower-paced album than 2024’s…By the Shadows… (which I covered […]
Denver, Colorado’s Khemmis has returned with their fifth album, aptly titled Khemmis. I reviewed their last one, from 2021, Deceiver. Since then, Zach, Phil, and Ben have welcomed in new bassist David Small, who makes his presence known on this album. Rooted in doom and epic heavy metal, Khemmis has never shied away from elements […]
For a while there in the early and mid 00s, Chicago’s Lair of the Minotaur was where one of the most metal fucking bands out there. The Steve Rathbone (7000 Dying Rats) led project, joined at times by the likes of Larry Herwig (Pelican), Chris Wozniak (Serpent Crown), Nate Olp (Demiricous), and others, kicked out […]
From what I’ve heard, everything in Australia wants to kill you. Fortunately, I don’t think the bands that come from there do (well, maybe Destroyer 666), but Australia has a pretty rich, non-murdering history of bands. Add to that legacy Black Sea of Trees, a pleasant doom/progressive death metal quartet out of sunny Melbourne. Celebrating […]
I have generally enjoyed anything that German vocalist/ instrumentalist Baptist has been involved with; Mavorim, Eisekult, and this, Atronos, an outlet for more medieval, melodic black metal, founded by guitarist Henker (also in the above two bands as well as Drudensang). But after three good albums, including 2022’s Erwachen, I didn’t see this coming, as […]
100 Demons is back with their third album, and it’s one helluva comeback album. Their second album, 100 Demons, was released in 2004, and now, several decades later, they have reformed and released Embrace the Black Light. The band suffered a loss two years ago when their bassist Erik Barrett passed away (RIP, brother). The […]
After greatly improving from their debut and delivering my 4th favorite album of 2023 in Air Not Meant For Us, I was very excited and curious to see how Colorado melodic death/doom act would perform on all the all-important third album. Would it be their Master of Puppets or Reign in Blood? Or would it […]
Guitarist/Vocalist Paul Gillis has been at it in the scene for thirty years, and when Morgue Supplier got going, he was a man with a plan. Create brutal death metal that will rip heads off from here to the end of the world. Mastering the Disease is the band’s fourth album, and Stephen Reichelt once […]
After a 9-year layoff, California Sludge mongers Armed For Apocalypse returned in 2022 with Ritual Violence, a beastly, hefty album that almost matched their absolutely killer debut, Defeat, waaaaay back in 2009, and that album is still one of my go-to favorites in the style. With only a 4-year wait, this time, but the same lineup […]
The Formula for a raw Black Metal album: take some stomach bile, mix it up with some menstrual blood and a pinch of salt, and pour it on the band members’ heads in some sort of blasphemous ritual. Featuring members of Finnish Black Metal royalty (True Black Dawn, and …And Oceans, to name two). Accelerated […]
The long-standing partnership between Xtreem Music and Finland’s Desecresy continues on the band’s ninth album. The first four albums were with Tommi Grönqvist – Guitars, Bass, and drums and Jarno Nurmi on vocals. Then Jarno left, and Tommi has been keeping his labor of love alive and taking on the vocal duties. A one-man band, […]
It’s been 6 years since the UK’s Hecate Enthroned returned to the purely symphonic black metal style that made them famous in the mid to late 90s. After starting as an unabashedly Cradle of Filth-mimicking band, with The Slaughter of Innocence, a Requiem for the Mighty, Dark Requiems… and Unsilent Massacre, they delved into a […]
I have no idea how I have not crossed paths with Scotland’s Cnoc An Tursa (“Hill of the Standing Stone”) up until now. I know they haven’t been super prolific, with only 2 albums since 2013, but lawd, we have covered them here on their debut The Giants of Auld, and heck, we even interviewed […]
I’ve had the pleasure of reviewing the first two albums from Bolt Thro.. I mean Frozen Soul, and I have enjoyed all their material, dating back to their Maggot Stomp days. I truly hope they give credit to Scott, since he helped them initially. By album number three, you want to see the band continue […]
NY/NJ death metal act Reeking Aura is back with their second album, On the Promise of the Moon. I really enjoyed their interesting, ambient, and brutal debut album Blood and Bonemeal, from 2022. I thought it was an improvement over their debut 2020 EP, Beneath the Canopy of Compost. Guitarists Terrell Grannum, Rick Habeeb, and vocalist […]